Little Red Riding Hood: A Comparison of Two Versions - Essay Example

Little Red Riding Hood: A comparison of two versions Your First Name Your Last Name Date Submitted Little Red Riding Hood: A comparison of two versions Fairytales are often written with the aim of teaching morals to children…

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This paper shall seek to examine the story of Little Red Riding Hood and shall look at two versions. The original story that was written by the French author Charles Perrault and the version written by the British author, Roald Dahl, will be the two versions that are taken into account in this paper. In the original version that was written by Perrault, there is an explicit statement of misogyny where the protagonist is described in terms that are overtly feminine. This turns into a more egalitarian worldview in the story that is written by Dahl. The transformation from “a little village girl, the prettiest that had ever been seen” (Perrault, n.d.) to a child who “whips a pistol from her knickers” (Dahl, n.d.) is that of a helpless girl-child to one that is aware of her own rights as a girl and as a child. The protagonist in the version of Little Red Riding Hood that Dahl writes is able to take care of herself, unlike the naive child who is unaware of the follies of the world and falls prey to the wiles of the wolf. Dahl’s story tackles two of the concerns that anybody from the modern ages may have about a story like Little Red Riding Hood. During the time that Perrault wrote the original version of the story, children were considered to be beings that were nothing better than adults with inferior intelligences. An understanding of the psychology of children had not developed. This lack is evident in the manner in which the figure of the protagonist is portrayed in Perrault’s story. The lack of intelligence that Little Red Riding Hood demonstrates is characteristic of the child characters that are seen in stories of the seventeenth century that take on a didactic function. The girl child experiences a marginalization that has two aspects. Firstly, there is the aspect that has been discussed in this paper that pertains to the lack of a child-specific compendium of knowledge. Secondly, the marginalization that was specific to women was also extended to the girl-child. This is the reason as to why the narrator of the story, while explicating the moral of the story, makes a specific reference to girls. The moral of the story is thus, a much gendered one and has sexual undertones. The wolf can be seen as a symbol of the dangers that a society presents to the women of that society. In Perrault’s version, the advice that is given to women is to avoid such dangers by staying within the boundaries that are drawn for women by the society. As opposed to this, Dahl’s protagonist is able to handle the dangers that society poses to her safety as a woman. The wicked nature of the wolf, a symbol of men who look to take advantage of women in a sexual way, is never critiqued in the original version of the stor
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This story, in various different versions, was told in various European countries, with French peasants telling the story as early as the 14th century. However, these were all oral accounts. The earliest known printed version of the story was also based on French tradition and published in a book by Charles Perrault in the late 17th century.

A lot has been said about Little Red Riding and many authors mainly with the same moral teaching to the female gender have rewritten this fairy tale. This is because of their vulnerability to the society. Most of the fairy tales were meant to promote an upright culture within the society.

Since the forest was infested by many dangerous animals, her mother said to her “My little sweet girl stay away from strangers, and don’t talk to them” and the girl replied “Don’t worry mom, I will be safe.” While

o sell surplus groceries; first day’s stock was purchased by his demob money which he received after he had left the Royal Flying Corp at the end of the Great War. It was in the year 1924, that Cohen for the first time sold his own brand of tea which was Tesco Tea, and it was

The author has put forward a subtle and mocking criticism of the mainstream social discourse that created a story of the kind of Little Red Riding Hood. Virtues that were seen as adorable and appropriate in a girl, or a woman, like obedience and keeping oneself to safe paths, have been thrown away by the Riding Hood of Dahl.

The wolf is unable to eat the little girl at that juncture due to which, he asks her about her destination. The little girl in her innocence informs him about her grandma’s home where he reaches and eats his grandma’s before her arrival. Later on posing to be her grandma’s he also eats the little girl (Perrault, 2006).

derstanding of criminology can help psychologists and relevant authorities to prevent repetition of crimes and helping in rehabilitation of criminals. Criminological theories can be categorized as macro theories if they explain crimes in the context of the larger society and

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